1981 PLOT IN BAHRAIN LINKED TO IRANIANS

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It was a small plot by world standards, the Information Minister says. But, with hindsight, it was an unusually significant one: An Islamic radical group, operating with apparent backing from Iran, conspired to take over this moderate Arab state on the Persian Gulf.

The plan was discovered in December, and this May, 73 members of the group, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain received jail sentences ranging from seven years to life.

The trial received almost no publicity, but diplomats pieced together an account of the plot from public statements at the time of its discovery and from private conversations.

Their interest was substantial because the plot had the appearance of being the first overt attempt at undermining a Persian Gulf government with some measure of Iranian aid.

The composite picture that emerged was of a badly bungled attempt involving as many as 150 people. Some of the plotters, who the Government said had been trained in Iran, had automatic weapons, and some had Bahraini police uniforms, appearently made in Iran.

Although Iran denied all involvement, diplomats were told that an Iranian here had brought two radios into Bahrain to be used by the plotters. When the names and nationalities of the arrested group was published, there turned out to be 60 Bahrainis, 11 Saudis, a Kuwaiti, and a citizen of Oman. Bahrainis Had Shiite Names

Of the 60 Bahrainis, most had names indicating that they were Shiites, members of the Moslem sect that is predominant in Iran. There are no official figures on religious adherence in Bahrain, where the ruling royal Khalifa family belongs to the Sunni sect, the mainstream branch of Islam. Estimates put the division in Bahrain at 55 percent Shiites and 45 percent Sunnites.

For Islamic revolutionaires, Bahrain, an archipelago off the coast of Saudi Arabia, with a population of 360,000, may seem unusually tempting. It is a rather open society, with an air of secularity, and strong ties to the West through the 141 banks that make Bahrain the region's financial center.

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At the same time, Bahrain does not have the conspicuous irritants and injustices that make for a revolutionary climate. There is free medical care, good housing and, by all accounts, genuine affection for the ruling family. There are six Shiite Cabinet ministers, and Shiites are active in economic life.

''In the end, the plot was seen as one against society here rather than the Government,'' the Information Minister, Tariq Abdul Rahman al-Moayyed, said. ''They were planning acts of sabotage and they could have caused a lot of harm and havoc.'' Bahrain Once Claimd by Iran

The question that has raised itself, with Iran only 120 miles away, is the likelihood of another attempt. Iran, in fact, once claimed Bahrain as part of its territory, but abandoned the claim under the Shah after United Nations mediation. Since the 1979 revolution in Iran, Bahraini officials say, the issue has been referred to again in the Iranian press, but never by the Government, with which Bahrain maintains normal diplomatic relations.

In the analysis of Bahraini policymakers, the issue could arise again only if Iran were in desperate need of a political diversion. No one here thinks this is likely, but no one is certain that a failure in the war with Iraq would produce more cautious leadership in Iran.

Mr. Moayyed said that listening to the Iranian radio every day over the last few years has a rather confusing effect because the contradictions are constant. ''We prefer rather to attend to our own business than to pay it much attention,'' he said.

At the center of that business currently is the construction of a 15-mile causeway that will link Bahrain with Saudi Arabia. The undertaking, the cost of which is reckoned at $800 million, is described as the largest construction project in the history of the Persian Gulf.

Bahrain, which would run out of oil by the end of the century at current rates of exploitation, has a military security pact with Saudi Arabia and is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional grouping that hopes to develop its relations in ways similar to the European Economic Community.

A version of this article appears in print on July 25, 1982, on Page 1001003 of the National edition with the headline: 1981 PLOT IN BAHRAIN LINKED TO IRANIANS. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe